Charlie Chan in Paris is another from the durable series about the globetrotting detective from Honolulu. Chan (Warner Oland) arrives in Paris, ostensibly for a vacation, but actually to investigate some forged bonds; with the help of Number One Son Lee Chan (Keye Luke), he gets to the bottom of things in another enjoyable caper. I'm starting to like these films as light, diverting entertainment.

"May the hinges of friendship never rust, nor the wings of love lose a feather"--Scottish blessing

My movie tonight was The Big Lebowski, a black comedy/mystery from the Coen Brothers. Jeff Lebowski (Jeff Bridges), who prefers to be known as "the Dude," is sucked into a strange kidnapping caper when he's mistaken for another man with the same name, a wheelchair-bound millionaire. Now the other Lebowski wants the Dude to deliver the ransom for his kidnapped trophy wife Bunny (Tara Reid). The Dude's best friend Walter Sobchak (John Goodman) wants to help, but as he's a borderline psychotic, he may be more of a hindrance. This one may be too eccentric for some tastes, but Bridges shines as the most laid-back slacker of all time.

"May the hinges of friendship never rust, nor the wings of love lose a feather"--Scottish blessing

Watching The Hurt Locker tonight was a very intense experience. Kathryn Bigelow's Best Picture winner tracks the final month or so of deployment to Iraq for a three-man Army bomb disposal unit: Sergeant First Class William James (Jeremy Renner), Sergeant Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) and Specialist Eldridge (Brian Geraghty). While some Iraq War veterans have criticized the accuracy of the film's depiction of combat, it certainly captures the intensity of the combat experience very well. Renner, like his main castmates a relative unknown at the time of filming, received a Best Actor nomination for portraying a man who, in the words of journalist Chris Hedges that are quoted in the film's opening credits, finds that "the rush of battle is a potent and often lethal addiction."

"May the hinges of friendship never rust, nor the wings of love lose a feather"--Scottish blessing

Sexy Beast is a very hard-edged and effective British crime thriller, a small-scale, character-driven counterpoint to the flashier, more comic films of the likes of Guy Ritchie. Gal (Ray Winstone) is a retired hood of some sort, enjoying the sun in Spain with his ex-porn star wife Deedee (Amanda Redman) and their friends Aitch (Cavan Kendall) and Jackie (Julianne White). One day an old associate named Don Logan (Ben Kingsley) drops by. Don has been commissioned by London crimelord Teddy Bass (Ian MacShane) to put a crew together for a big bank heist. Don badly wants Gal on the job and won't take "I'm retired" for an answer. Although the heist itself is imaginative it isn't the focus of the film--the core is about the clash of wills between Gal and Don. Winstone and Redman give good performances, but the acting honors belong to Kingsley in this one--if the film has a small weakness, it's that it loses a bit of steam when he is offscreen.

"May the hinges of friendship never rust, nor the wings of love lose a feather"--Scottish blessing

Tonight I watched Source Code, a tense and tightly-paced sci-fi thriller that does not neglect the human element. Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) has been flying helicopters in Afghanistan, but suddenly he finds himself on a commuter train in Chicago, chatting up Christina (Michelle Monaghan), the woman sitting across from him--who keeps calling him Sean. And then, there's an explosion and Colter finds himself alone in a strange pod, talking to Goodwin (Vera Farmiga) and Rutledge (Jeffrey Wright), who keep asking him if he's identified the bomber. It will take you a little while to figure out what's going on, but Gyllehaal is very effective as a sort of latter-day Hitchcockian hero, a man nearly as perplexed as the audience is. As he figures out what's happening, so will you.

"May the hinges of friendship never rust, nor the wings of love lose a feather"--Scottish blessing

Tonight I watched a very nice 1970s era noir called Hickey & Boggs. Al Hickey (Bill Cosby) and Frank Boggs (Robert Culp) are a pair of Los Angeles PI's who are barely getting by at a time when being a shamus isn't what it used to be. When they're hired by Mr. Rice (Lester Fletcher) to trace a woman, they are plunged into a serpentine plot involving the take from a big bank robbery. Before long the duo find themselves caught between the cops and the gangsters who want the robbery loot back. This was Culp's only feature as a director and he does a nice job working from Walter Hill's debut script, while both he and his onetime TV costar Cosby (I Spy) turn in solid performances. Very good.

"May the hinges of friendship never rust, nor the wings of love lose a feather"--Scottish blessing

Tonight I watched The Limey, a nice revenge picture in the Get Carter mold. Wilson (Terence Stamp) is just out of prison in Britain for armed robbery, when he learns of the death of his daughter Jenny in Los Angeles. Convinced that her death was due to foul play, Wilson sets out to find the man responsible, and basically keeps going until he finds him--a record producer named Terry Valentine (Peter Fonda) with a sideline dealing in heroin. Director Steven Soderbergh chooses to tell the simple story in a very nonlinear way, with numerous flashbacks and flashforwards and very rapid cuts; I found that this neither added nor detracted from things. Stamp is terrific, although his Cockney accent is a tad over the top, and besides Fonda, there's a very nice supporting cast featuring Lesley Ann Warren, Luis Guzman, Barry Newman, Amelia Heinle, and a cameo from Bill Duke. Very good.

"May the hinges of friendship never rust, nor the wings of love lose a feather"--Scottish blessing

Peter Bogdanovich's They All Laughed is not the equal of his best films, but it grew on me as I watched it. Three detectives from the Odyssey Agency--John (Ben Gazzara), Arthur (Blaine Novak) and clumsy rookie Charles (John Ritter)--are responsible between them for a pair of cases doing the classic work of PI's. Namely, following a pair of women who are suspected of cheating by their husbands. Matters become complicated when John starts falling for Angela (Audrey Hepburn), the wife of an Italian millionaire, while Charles is attracted to young trophy wife Delores (the tragically short-lived Dorothy Stratten, who was murdered before the film was released). There isn't a whole lot of dramatic tension in this one, but there are a lot of winning performances--besides all the aforementioned players, watch for Patti Hansen as a cab driver who develops a bit of a thing for Charles, and especially Colleen Camp as an aspiring country singer. Overall, a very amiable and likable film although not a classic.

"May the hinges of friendship never rust, nor the wings of love lose a feather"--Scottish blessing